There are many different kinds of towing systems that are capable of securing a towed vehicle to a towing vehicle. Many of these systems attach in proximity to the rear of the towing vehicle. This results in the towed vehicle being secured to and extending from the rear of such towing vehicle. A common type of rear extending towing system is a trailer hitch receiver that may be attached to the frame of a towing vehicle. The trailer hitch receiver may utilize a cross bar or torsion tube that expands at least a portion of the length of the width of the vehicle and may be secured to the frame of the towing vehicle.
The trailer hitch receiver may include a receiver assembly that is secured to the cross bar, typically by welding such to the cross bar, but it is not limited to such. The receiver assembly may include a receiver tube, which may be of any appropriate shape and size. A hitch ball mount and hitch ball may then be selectively secured to the receiver tube. The hitch ball may be utilized to secure the towed vehicle to the towing vehicle.
It is often desirable to remove the hitch ball from the trailer hitch receiver, particularly when a towed vehicle is not being towed by the towing vehicle. In this situation, it may be desirable to not have the hitch ball extending from the rear of the towing vehicle. Accordingly, it may be desirable to remove the hitch ball from the trailer hitch receiver.
Accordingly, a trailer hitch ball mount is often utilized to selectively attach the hitch ball to the trailer receiver hitch. The trailer hitch ball mount may be capable of being secured to and removed from the trailer hitch receiver. This may result in the trailer hitch ball mount being carried and manipulated by a user when he or she desires to attach or remove the hitch ball. This may allow for the use of multiple hitch balls with different size hitch balls mounted thereon.
During use of the trailer hitch ball mount, however, significant forces are applied. This may result in the trailer hitch ball mount being heavy and difficult for a user to manipulate. For example, some trailer hitch ball mounts are manufactured from a solid forged piece of metal, which is particularly heavy, especially those having a class IV/V rating, or those that may be capable of towing 7000 pound or more. Given that trailer hitch ball mounts are manipulated by users to be secured and removed from the trailer hitch receiver, it is desirable for a hitch ball mount to be of a lighter construction while maintaining its class rating or weight capacity.
Moreover, the traditional hitch ball mount must go through several different steps in manufacturing, which may result in a higher cost to manufacture. For example, the hitch ball mount may be manufactured by welding a pre-formed tongue to a tube or solid bar/rod member. For example, a class I/II/III rated hitch ball mount or a hitch ball mount that may be capable of towing 5000 pounds or less may use a hollow tube welded to a solid thick steel tongue. The additional processing required to weld the components together adds to the time and costs to manufacture the hitch ball mount. It is desirable for the hitch ball mount to be easier and/or more cost effective to manufacture.